We are delighted to welcome Amelia Ochoa as YPARD Web and Communications Officer. Amelia is joining YPARD Global Coordination Unit for a period of 6 months. Amelia has a background in Audiovisual Communications and Hispanic Philology, from the University of Navarra, Spain. In 2010, she contributed to a Project on Mass media and NGO crisis as a researcher. They analysed the... Continue reading

Have you ever found yourself in the situation in which you wanted to submit a funding proposal to support your  participation to an event but you were not successful in the end? If yes, keep reading. Getting sponsorship is not an easy task, especially when it comes to attending international conferences. It is usually a lengthy process for which you start... Continue reading

  Between 28-30 May 2014, the IITA Youth Agripreneur (IYA) and the Young Professional in Agricultural Development (YPARD) Nigeria will celebrate the Youth in Agribusiness Development Initiative (YADI) Workshop. In order to engage on-site participants, reach out to a wider audience remotely and promote the YADI Project Conceptualization Workshop, both organizations are putting together a Remote Social Reporting Team. This volunteer... Continue reading

The family of the three brothers Christos Belides (32), Miltiades Belides (30) and Theodoros Belides (20) has a long history of wine producing. Their grandfather was winegrower in Constantinople and in 1922 he took some of his wine varieties with him to Greece. Nowadays the winery is located near the city Kozani, in the north of Greece. The three brothers are... Continue reading

Agriculture is the main source of food, income, and employment for the majority of people in Nepal. But one big hurdle for most farmers is financing. Loans tend to be too expensive for smallholder farmers. They often involve a lengthy application process, and farmers can rarely meet the rigid collateral requirements—rural land is neither recognized nor accepted as collateral by many banks. Without... Continue reading

Currently, 2.5 billion people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Globally, the average age of farmers is around 55 years. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Statistical Yearbook 2013, 27 percent of the world's population is under 10 years old compared to only 8 percent over 65 years old. It's clear that agriculture needs to attract younger farmers. In Europe, one-third of all... Continue reading

Did you know about the new International Labour Organization (ILO) kit? It consists of a training package called "Gender and Entrepreneurship Together – GET Ahead for Women in Enterprise"– that aims to assist ILO partner organizations in promoting enterprise development among women and young girls in poverty who want to start or are already engaged in small-scale business. The so called... Continue reading

“There won’t be development without youth. Young people have to be involved and finding how agriculture can be attracting for young people is the priceless solution we should seek after”. This is how Abdoulaye from Senegal sums up the main message that comes out from an online survey made by FSN Forum in West Africa in collaboration with YPARD, available in... Continue reading

Agriculture is key to Nepalese economy by determining economic growth and employment for most of the rural people and it is said as the foundation of the development of the country. However, no extra developmental activities have been done by the concerned agencies in this sector except few investment on irrigation and agricultural development projects. Agricultural production in Nepal is highly... Continue reading

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) published recently its Youth Strategy Plan from 2013 to 2017. After more than 15 years supporting and promoting youth engagement in agriculture, CTA has launched this strategy in order to boost the crucial role of young people in agriculture and rural development (ARD) to develop and modernise the sector. 70% of Africa’s... Continue reading

Deadline: 25 May 2014 Farming First! - That’s the name of a coalition of over 130 organisations. The coalition articulates actions towards sustainable agricultural development worldwide. It gathers multi-stakeholder representatives: world’s farmers, scientists, engineers and industry as well as agricultural development organisations. With one shared voice, Farming First highlights the importance of improving farmers’ livelihoods and agriculture’s potential contribution to global... Continue reading

Lengthy presentations are a tired conference format. To come to concrete and effective solutions, we need lively and focused discussions with people of different views. But lively discussions need a glue to hold them together. And that glue is a moderator. What is a facilitator? It is the facilitator who sets the context, drives the discussion, and engages the audience in... Continue reading

Africa’s agriculture potential is staggering. The region has about 60 percent of the world’s uncultivable arable land. Some 50 years ago, it was a net exporter of agriculture produce. These potentials have helped foster economic growth and sustained livelihoods. But the trend has changed. In a dramatic turn-around, Africa today imports more food than it produces to feed itself. Agricultural exports... Continue reading

The end of 2013 and beginning of 2014 has been a milestone in the development of YPARD.  Many strategic events have been shaping the organization, from the external review of late 2013, to the strategic planning meeting in early January and the update of the charter.  The YPARD Business Plan 2014-2018 was developed based on the outcomes of the strategic meeting... Continue reading

Not sure the five selected youth moderators for the ForestsAsia Summit’s Youth Session were expecting such an important role when applying. They are thoroughly preparing the event, with putting together discussions topics and pertinent questions; they moderate e-discussions, and design tailored facilitation methods and tools for the session’s round-tables. Isn’t it what it takes to lead relevant collective solutions and bring... Continue reading

It is clear that major development policies in developing countries pay little or no attention to food insecurity and undernutrition. Food insecurity and undernutrition are low on priority list of most countries particularly in Africa. But the costs of food insecurity and undernutrition are staggering. Food insecurity and undernutrition threaten human survival. The 2012 Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report : ‘The State... Continue reading

AGRINATURA Science Days will be held in Vienna, on 5 - 8 May 2014.The discussions will focus on how alliances between small-scale family farming and agricultural sciences can transform local and global food systems in ways that ensure food and nutrition security at all levels. I am invited to contribute as a panel discussant to bring a youth perspective, on behalf... Continue reading

Many women around the world dream of running to office so that they can help build a better future, not only for themselves and their families, but for all people in their country. Every women has a deep humanity and the will to be part of the change; we carry within us a core craving to add value and bring peace... Continue reading

The YPARD India working group was formally constituted in November 2013. The group is an interesting mix of globetrotting academics, researchers, development professionals and students. The group consists of 15 members from various states and agricultural universities of India. The profiles of all members can be found on YPARD and the purpose of this post is to give a short introduction... Continue reading

Africa is a net importer of food, spending more than $20 billion each year on food imports. As the African population continues to grow and urbanize at a fast rate, African agriculture and related value chains will be required to grow and evolve quickly. Addressing these problems calls for various initiatives; spanning macro-economic policy, improvements and access to technologies that can... Continue reading